A Southwestern Ontario man has been infected with an H1N1 variant influenza virus.
Dr. Arlene King, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health says the patient had close contact with pigs.
The man is being treated in a Southwestern Ontario hospital.
The infection was caused by an H1N1-variant virus, which is not the swine flu virus that has been jumping from pigs to people in the United States this summer.
Some 300 people in the U.S. have been infected by an H3N2-variant. That virus has not been found in Canada.
“I would like to reassure Ontarians that this variant influenza virus rarely spreads from animals to humans,” King said in a news release.“Subsequent human-to-human transmission is also rare.”
Officials say the discovery of the infection does not trigger food safety concerns.
“The consumption of properly cooked pork continues to be safe,” King said.
“Proper cooking of meats, including pork, kills all bacteria and viruses.”
King is also urging people to wash their hands often and to get a flu shot to protect against contracting the flu.
